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Israel is prepared for a long military struggle against Hamas, with the war in Gaza expected to last “four to six months”, and the country is arming more civilians to ward off future attacks, a senior Israeli politician said on Wednesday.
“It is going to take time. We understand that. We believe it is going to take about four months to six months for a such a war [to end],” Sharren Haskel, a member of the Knesset from the National Unity Party who sits on the foreign affairs and national security committees, told The National.
The conflict is in its fourth week and is seeing ground troops press deep into the Palestinian enclave, with mounting casualties on both sides.
“Israel has the money, capability and economic patience for this war,” Ms Haskel said. “We will get through this.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that Israel's war in Gaza would be long but victorious.
“We are in a tough war. It will be a long war,” he said in a statement in which he also mourned the loss of a growing number of soldiers. “I promise to all citizens of Israel: we will get the job done. We will press ahead until victory.”
Fifteen soldiers have died in battle since Israeli forces launched the second phase of the war in Gaza with a ground invasion, according to the military.
Mr Netanyahu has ruled out international calls for a ceasefire and vowed to wipe out Hamas, which launched a brutal attack on October 7 that resulted in the deaths of 1,400 people and the taking of at least 240 hostages.
Since October 7, more than 8,500 people have been killed by Israeli air strikes and shelling in Gaza. An Israeli air strike on Jabalia, Gaza's largest refugee camp, killed at least 50 and injured 150 more overnight on Tuesday.
The Israeli military said the strike killed Hamas leader Ibrahim Biari.
Ms Haskel, who was also the former deputy Knesset speaker, said Israel has the financial muscle to fund the long war as it is focused on wiping out what she called an “ISIS-like enemy” on the border.
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said that the direct cost of the war is about 1 billion shekels ($246 million) and that the current budget would be revised.
Last week, S&P Global downgraded Israel's economic outlook from to “stable” to “negative”.
10,000 Israelis apply for permits for guns
The war in Gaza has contributed to the further militarisation of Israeli society, after authorities relaxed rules for citizens to own firearms.
Ms Haskel said requests for firearms from Israeli private citizens have doubled or even tripled since the Knesset's National Security Committee relaxed requirements on October 15.
“We have received more than 10,000 requests from private citizens just last week, whereas the average number we get in a year used to be 5,000,” she said.
Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir, of the radical right-wing Jewish Power party, said he aims to arm an additional 400,000 citizens eligible to carry firearms.
Mr Ben-Gvir's comments, part of his long-term plans to create a National Guard that has been described as a private militia by critics, prompted the US to warn Israel that it would stop sending American guns.
Defending the policy, Ms Haskel said if civilians and first responders had rifles and M-16s on October 7, they would have been able to better defend themselves against Hamas's attack.
“Some of them were armed only with handguns. If they will be armed with M-16s, the scene would have looked much different,” she said.
“We are people who face serious threats. And time after time, we have to join forces to defeat our enemy. We have to make sure that this will never happen again.”
On the massive security lapse that allowed the October 7 attack, the politician said there will be a thorough investigation “the day after we won this war”.
“Now the resources are focused on fighting this war and defeating Hamas.”
Armed units in every border town
Ms Haskel said that every Israeli town in border areas will have a first response team armed with M-16 rifles.
“The civilians are allowed to have only hand guns while police forces and first responders are given M-16s,” she said.
Ruling out the threat of private militias posing a security threat, she said Israel has a different gun culture to other countries, as every adult has served in the army and is well trained in weapons.
She said the current regulation has only reduced the required level of military training for owning a gun from 7 to 3, so that more people can acquire firearms.
“People understand our military values of using guns to defend lives,” said Ms Haskel.
Director: Laxman Utekar
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna
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Dust and sand storms compared
Sand storm
- Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
- Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
- Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
- Travel distance: Limited
- Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
- Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
- Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
- Duration: Can linger for days
- Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
- Source: Can be carried from distant regions
Who has been sanctioned?
Daniella Weiss and Nachala
Described as 'the grandmother of the settler movement', she has encouraged the expansion of settlements for decades. The 79 year old leads radical settler movement Nachala, whose aim is for Israel to annex Gaza and the occupied West Bank, where it helps settlers built outposts.
Harel Libi & Libi Construction and Infrastructure
Libi has been involved in threatening and perpetuating acts of aggression and violence against Palestinians. His firm has provided logistical and financial support for the establishment of illegal outposts.
Zohar Sabah
Runs a settler outpost named Zohar’s Farm and has previously faced charges of violence against Palestinians. He was indicted by Israel’s State Attorney’s Office in September for allegedly participating in a violent attack against Palestinians and activists in the West Bank village of Muarrajat.
Coco’s Farm and Neria’s Farm
These are illegal outposts in the West Bank, which are at the vanguard of the settler movement. According to the UK, they are associated with people who have been involved in enabling, inciting, promoting or providing support for activities that amount to “serious abuse”.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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